Wet felting hand tools

[orlaosborne]

Hi everyone,

I hope this request isn't tediously long, but I would really love all your opinions and on wet felting hand tools. I don't mean a felting mat, or rollers, or anything electrified or for sprinkling water. Just simple (usually wooden) hand tools, like a palm washboard for instance. I've attached some tools from HeartFeltSilks to drive home what I'm on about. 

My questions are:

Do any of you use one or more kinds of felting hand tools? Any if so what kind, and do you recommend it?

If you do recommend it, what brand is it and what size?

How does it help you in your felting? I assume it speeds the felting process and keeps your hands out of the water and soap, saving them from getting chapped, but are there any other advantages? For instance my mum felts every once in a while but is getting arthritis in her wrists, would this tool help in anyway?

Can use you use your felting tool (or any felting hand tool) for any felting project or is it project specific? For instance, is it just for making slippers or 3D felted sculptures.

Thank you for the feedback in advance,

Orla Osborne

[lyn]

Hello Orla
I don't use any commercially made tools. I made myself a bead board (piece of MDF, a handle and floral glass beads that are flat on one side, stuck on with strong glue) that's great for rubbing. When the felt is covered with net the glass beads slide easily and you can adjust how much pressure you apply. A piece of felt for art display could be felted completely by rubbing.



As you can just slide the bead board over the netted felt easily, I would suggest that it would be suitable for someone with arthritis - maybe find a more suitable handle?

For shaping 3D objects I use anything to hand: stainless steel serving spoon, ladle, wooden spoon, baby's rattle etc. but I make a soapy lather in my hands then coat the objects so that the felt doesn't pull.

[MTRuth]

Sorry but I won't be much help. I pretty much just use my hands. I may use plastic over the wool for a smoother surface. And I use a hard rubber ridged mat under the felt throughout the process.

[Shepherdess]

I don't have anything intended for felting either. I use a starburst Tupperware lid. I have quite a few form second hand stores. I use them when I teach.

They look like this on the bottom. This is one without a handle, the underside doesn't have the lip around it. These work but I like the handles ones better. They are for juice jugs.

I also have several rollers that I think are meant for massage.

I have seen potter rubbing stones ant have texture on the bottom. sorry no picture. I have heard good things about the palm wash board but couldn't justify the cost with shipping. It is heavy.

[orlaosborne]

Thank you all for those ideas. I love that idea Lyn - I'm going to give making one of those a go, and see if my local shops have starburst Tupperware lids. Thanks!

[lindsay]

Hi Orla. I use a variety of tools. Like Ann I use two Tupperware juice jug lids. I bought them on eBay. I’m sure I got the idea from this forum. They’re light and cover a lot of ground. They’re not necessarily better than hands but they do allow me to use different hand positions and muscles and they glide well. I also have two ceramic felting stones that I bought from Dharma trading. They’re similar to the palm washboards but cheaper (and ceramic not wood). These are particularly good for rubbing when the felt is firmer as they are heavier than the juice lids. Again they offer different hand positions which is helpful for hands that are tired or have strength or flexibility issues. It’s good to mix them up so you don’t over-stress one set of joints or muscles. All these work well for flat felt.

Like Lyn, I use a whole lot of other things for 3D felting, none of which is intended for this purpose. From large wooden knitting needles to old fashioned darning mushrooms and strange do-dahs I find in charity shops whose original purpose is a mystery to me. Things with ridges are good as are things that help you to reach into tight spots to apply some friction.

Hope that helps. There’s a certain amount of trial and error.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

I don't think I've ever bought anything specifically for felting that was actually sold for that purpose. My favourite tools for large areas of felt are a couple of plasterers' float trowels, one made of wood and covered (by my husband) with an off-cut from a length of plastic carpet protector, ridged side outwards; the other made of polyurethane which I use uncovered but well soaped. I use them instead if my hands to press water into the laid out fibres and to rub and smooth especially at the start of felting.
Where I used to roll in bubblewrap and bamboo blinds to full, I now tend to use cotton sheeting or an old tea towel (a piece on each side) sometimes wrapped round a piece of wooden broom handle at other times just rolled round itself. I don't understand why, but the work seems to full much more quickly that way.
When working on more sturdy felt, and especially when I've had enough of doing it by hand, I put the felt in the washing machine together with a very hard rubber ball (tennis ball size), or 3 or 4 golf balls if the work is a smaller piece. Sometimes on a cold rinse cycle or on a quick wash at 30 degrees depending on what I'm making.
For 3D work, my resists tend to be builders' black plastic sheeting. Tools for getting into spaces where my hands can't get into are odd shaped pieces of wood, legs from stools, various handles and a wooden paper "knife". Now I've started using Bergschaf, which is very hairy, I have relocated my redundant Ladyshave to the workshop (at my age the hair on my legs doesn't grow any more. This does now give me time to deal with the new moustache which is trying to!)
Ann

[Shepherdess]

I have a porage spurtle ( fancy stick) and a Croquet stick and a honey dipper that work in odd spots. Does the electric shaver work well on the hairiness? I am not sold on the Berbshaf. I am leaning towards Finnish wool.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

(This is a response to Ann's message above - the "Quote" facility doesn't seem to be working properly. what I wanted to type in would only appear in the quote box. not in the space beneath.)

I haven't tried the shaver yet - that was an assumption on my part. I'll have a go and report back. There's always the kitchen blowtorch which I picked up cheaply on the off chance, but have only used once in the kitchen. That may end up in the workshop too, as well as the steamer which I bought just before lockdown and haven't used yet either. I'm running out of space for tools!

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

Having given you a list of my wet felting tools, I've just used some more - my bead making kit and my home made "washboard".
The bead making kit was put together after I read Maud Bath's article in Issue 7 of Felt Magazine (mentioned in a post a few days ago) "I was a Felt Ball Tragic". I was the same. I quite often failed to make a decent felt ball/bead - usually (of course) when I was demonstrating. Maud suggested using Kinder Egg plastic inserts (where the hidden toy was). Half filling them with soapy water and adding some tufts of merino fibres. Put the lid on and shake. She used various sizes of container to get different size beads, even using a square one to make square beads. Having shaken the container for say 4 or 5 minutes. the ball should have shrunk and formed the basic shape, so that it was only a matter of rolling the ball between your hands, pressing progressively harder to finish fulling it. I decided some time ago that I could use this system to mass produce the beads by placing the filled containers inside a (water tightish) one and shaking that. It was rather noisy, but that was great in attracting the attention of passing visitors when I was demonstrating from our Guild tent at a country show.
I made the "washboard" a few years ago, in much the same way as mentioned by Lyn above, by sticking glass beads on to an A4 sheet of perspex using aroldite. Unfortunately the outer beads have started to drop off, but there were still enough there today for me to roll my beads on to full them. This actually worked better than rolling them between two hands, which I can't do at the moment, one of them being out of action.
I have tried the electric shaver for hairy Bergschaf, and it doesn't work particularly well, especially on odd shapes - it tends to dig in. So I've sent it back to the bathroom and will use the blowtorch instead when I don't want a hairy result.
Ann